From building information modeling to project management software, Internet-accessible technology is making work in the building industry more efficient. But with that convenience comes the real threat of attacks – from simple data breaches to acts of terrorism – on those systems.

The Associated General Contractors of America reports that in 2014 there were 117,000 cyber attacks per day in the U.S., which represents a 50 percent increase over the previous year. And cyber security experts say they expect those numbers to grow in the future. But trying to proactively combat the attacks poses a problem for the cyber security industry, one that may feel familiar to some in the construction industry: The industry may not have enough skilled workers, including women and minorities, to keep up.

One answer to cyber security’s staffing problems, though, may be as close as a lecture room on the Portland State University campus. Earlier this summer a PSU grant-funded program called CyberPDX, brought together nearly 60 Oregon and Washington high school students along with 20 of their teachers. During an intensive, six-day camp at PSU, the students learned to build security systems, break into them, and then rebuild them better than before.

The roots of the Portland camp stretch back to Louisiana Tech, where the cyber camp concept was first implemented using federal Homeland Security money. The program, according to CyberPDX Director Bob Liebman, was designed to not only introduce young people to careers in cyber security, but also teach them about the inherent security risks involved with using mobile devices and other Internet-related technology.

The Portland CyberPDX program began in 2014, using the Louisiana camp curriculum as inspiration.

“Some of what we have (here) is a legacy of that camp,” Liebman said.

The Portland version, however, has been adjusted. In its earliest incarnation, the camp curriculum focused on students building robotic cars outfitted with front-end shovels that would, in the end, engage in a final-day race to see which car could collect the most marbles. The end result was a camp atmosphere that Liebman describes as “very competitive.”

“We called it NASCAR for nerds,” he said. “It was a big competition, but it didn’t really teach programming. We decided we wanted to reward not winners, but people who show themselves to be the best helpers and collaborators. So we stripped out as much of the competition as possible.”

The robotic cars were replaced this year with weeklong projects. Students worked in school-organized teams to create short videos for a final-day film festival, an activity encouraging collaboration while also adding a touch of liberal arts to the camp’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics aspects.

Videography was sandwiched between lessons on encryption, evening homework assignments that were due the next day at 8 a.m. and a cyber summit during which students debated big issues that included whether Apple should write software to break into the iPhone of one of two people who attacked and killed 14 people in California.

Familiarity in numbers

Another first for the CyberPDX camp this year, Liebman said, was a deliberate effort by the group’s staff to encourage teachers, who select the students from their schools who attend the camp, to help increase diversity among the attendees.

It was a friendly challenge that David Ellingson, a technology teacher at Tualatin High School, was more than ready to accept. He estimates that in three periods of engineering classes, for example, out of 30 students per class, only three or four are young women. He’s continually looking for ways to not only convince female students to try STEM-focused classes, but also keep them coming back for more.

“Just making something pink doesn’t work,” he said. “The key is to find out what interests them and you’ll attract their attention. You have to open young women’s minds to the fact that they can be and do anything they want.”

Gabriela Persaud, left, and Hannah Crosfield, work on a Python programming exercise during the CyberPDX camp at Portland State University last month. (Sam Tenney/DJC)

But inspiration alone isn’t enough. Ellingson knows there’s not just comfort in numbers for young women, but also support. That’s part of the reason he selected an all-girl team to represent Tualatin High School at this year’s CyberPDX camp.

“They need to have friends in the program or they feel isolated and will stop participating,” he said. “Once they’re in, if you can inspire them and get them going, once they see they can have fun, they can create, take something and make it personal. After that, they’ll grab it and go.”

Ellingson wasn’t the only teacher ready to see the face of the cyber security workforce change. A look at the students gathered in groups of four to six at tables spread out in a PSU lecture hall for a mid-week lesson during this year’s camp revealed a shift in numbers from previous years, with 35 young women, 22 young men and one transgender student in attendance.

For camp attendee Alexis Wright-Ropp, 15, selected by Ellingson to participate, seeing a lot of students like herself in that PSU lecture hall boosted her self-confidence. Wright-Ropp has been considering pursuit of a career in engineering, but she admits that sometimes walking into a classroom filled with mostly male students can be daunting for even the most confident young woman.

“Having the kind of welcoming encouragement coming into the technology community oftentimes can be the deciding factor whether someone decides to pursue a career,” she said.

Wright-Ropp says she’s concerned that her interest in a career in engineering may be difficult to maintain through three more years in high school. Even though Ellingson and his fellow technology teacher at Tualatin High School are continually working to attract and challenge students by offering new STEM-geared classes, such as new digital design and fabrication and digital geometry, the number of engineering classes is limited.

Even if Wright-Ropp veers away from engineering to work in forensic science or even become a choir teacher – two other careers she’s considering – she believes lessons she learned while at the CyberPDX camp this summer will continue to serve her. Wright-Ropp and fellow Tualatin High School teammates, along with Ellingson, not only proved to be natural talents at solving the cryptography challenges that students at the camp were handed each evening, but also earned a karma award for helping another team that was struggling to complete the puzzles. Daily karma awards honored students, teachers and entire school groups for assisting others.

“It was very satisfying to get those answers,” Wright-Ropp said. “I was surprised. At the time, it just feels like solving simple puzzles, like it’s a game. You don’t feel like you’re building a skill and learning. But at the end of the day you realize, ‘Wow. I couldn’t do this before.’ ”

Realizations like Ropp’s are a big part of what keeps Liebman working every year to keep the sessions going. It isn’t easy. CyberPDX started the camp with grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency. Portland State University, hosts the camp, and its professors teach sessions for reduced fees.

That financial assistance doesn’t always cover the entire cost of running the six-day camp. Still, Liebman and others involved with CyberPDX believe keeping the camp free for students is critical for building a future workforce for the cyber security industry. And while teachers receive a small stipend for attending the camp, they pay it back by paying it forward, according to Liebman. In addition to attending camp sessions with students, teachers also attend early morning and evening workshops. They’re also expected to share the results of personal projects, which all become available online for other teachers.

“This year, 20 teachers will produce 20 projects … and any teacher can go out on the web and grab a lesson plan,” Liebman said. “There could potentially be hundreds of other teachers in Oregon and Washington who could look at this repository for ideas for lesson plans or a new course or inspiration.”